Gamstat estimates: Final Fantasy VII Remake is the 3rd best performing PS4 exclusive title with over 2.3 million players in the first 3 days

[Nardy_19]

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PLEASE NOTE:
These are player count estimates based on data of millions of PSN accounts, but the data does not cover the entire userbase and thus should be taken as estimate and not as fact, also PLAYERS =/= SALES, although at launch its likely that the numbers of players and sales align closely with one another. The reason why I am posting about this is because Gamstat is based on legitimate data from PSN, unlike other websites (They are also the ones who leaked Resident Evil 3 Remake showing up on PSN).

Now onto the figures:

With these numbers, FFVII Remake is currently performing twice as fast as Final Fantasy XV (on PS4) was at the same time period and has 500k more players than Kingdom Hearts 3 (on PS4) did at the same time as well (note that KH3 launched early in Japan and thus its nubmers are not exactly representing 3 day tracking)

Final Fantasy VII Remake has the third most players for 3 day trackign period for PS4 exclusives, only behind God of War (2.4M) and Spider-Man (3M).

Also should be mentioned that the game has been sold in apparently extremely limited physical supply in many places, which might have hurt the potential sales on launch.

Share by region:

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Just out of curiosity, does steam offer similar player count estimates ( all time, not just active/current)?

 

[Deleted member 27551]

To be fair, the original game was very linear while you were in Midgard. I'm not really sure home they would make this portion open world and feel like even a remake of the original. Already it's a lot more open feeling than the original.

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Yea as I said I can forgive the first part being like that but I wont if the second part is. I enjoyed it but it honestly feels kinda half done in places, could most likely be all they can manage on this gens hardware within the time they had.

 

[IzzyRX]

We know what numbers are considered a success for a SQE game?

 

[jett]

 

[Vex]

I think that statement shows you haven't played the Remake. It's NOT a bad thing that you are waiting for it all to come out, or just waiting for a price drop, but the game being divided in multiple parts is absolutely not what you are thinking - it's closer to saying, each part is a Harry Potter book or movie, than each part being like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1 and part 2 films.

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I don't know anything about Harry Potter tho. So that analogy is lost on me.

I'm pretty sure I know what I'm thinking.... Lol.

 

[KernelC]

Yea as I said I can forgive the first part being like that but I wont if the second part is. I enjoyed it but it honestly feels kinda half done in places, could most likely be all they can manage on this gens hardware within the time they had.

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judging by the textures, it's most definitely the case. The game runs incredibly smooth, but you can also clearly see where they had to cut corners. Part 2 will look amazing in PS5. And this one will also look cool on PC for sure

 

[bottledfox]

JRPG holds less meaning as a term nowadays as many games that decended from Dragon Quest have long since borrowed elements from western RPGs and other genres. I've no problem calling FFVII an action/RPG with or without the "J" qualifier.

 

[Deleted member 27551]

judging by the textures, it's most definitely the case. The game runs incredibly smooth, but you can also clearly see where they had to cut corners. Part 2 will look amazing in PS5. And this one will also look cool on PC for sure

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Yea pc and ps5 should clear it up. It surprised me how bad some of the back ground could look when you're outside, like the lower areas when you're high up. Game looks really good in some cases and pretty bad in others, next gen cant come quick enough.

 

[Tigress]

JRPG holds less meaning as a term nowadays as many games that decended from Dragon Quest have long since borrowed elements from western RPGs and other genres. I've no problem calling FFVII an action/RPG with or without the "J" qualifier.

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Nah, it still feels like a JRPG (that's a good thing).

 

[ivan.k]

Gamstat is no better than vgchartz
Estimates out of ass

 

[gamstat]

I don't think the site is accurate at all.

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PS4 exclusives on that site have crazy numbers. How accurate is this?

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Gamstat is no better than vgchartz
Estimates out of ass

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Sorry, I'm a little late to the party. Not sure whether it's good or bad, but I often come up with data that can't be verified.
Still, there are some ways to check how accurate it is:

1. There was a 'MyPS4Life leak', and actually the whole site is built around it. Here's a comparison of gamstat.com estimates with the MyPS4Life figures (my estimates could've changed a little since then).
2. Once a quarter Sony is reporting the number of PS+ subscribers. I calculate my own number, and if it matches the figure reported by Sony (so far it does) - it means I'm calculating the total number of PSN accounts right - and it's the most important number for calculations.
3. Famitsu's estimates. They usually report a bigger number of sales in Japan than I do, and I'm not sure if it's my underestimation - or their overestimation. (Or offline players, or slow 'sales into players' conversion or whatever).
4. GT Sport website, which includes a full list of all players. My player count estimate is ~10% higher, and as for regions - the comparison says that I might generally underestimate Germany, Japan and Italy, and overestimate France and Russia - https://twitter.com/GamstatC/status/1248034534190452737

So you can't just throw away my estimates ('not accurate at all', 'estimates out of ass'). Especially considering that the usual alternative is having no data at all.
You should treat these data with a grain a salt, of course, but - based on all the information I have - they are pretty accurate and should give you an overall picture.

If you can point me to other real data for a sanity check - I'm all ears.

 

[Elephant]

It was always going to do well from a sales standpoint. It's Final Fantasy VII for crying out loud. While the original is not the best Final Fantasy, it's by far the most iconic.

Despite my dislike for the story being changed with Nomura nonsense, it's still the best Final Fantasy they've released since 10.

 

[El Manco]

Famitsu's estimates. They usually report a bigger number of sales in Japan than I do, and I'm not sure if it's my underestimation - or their overestimation. (Or offline players, or slow 'sales into players' conversion or whatever).

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Or maybe Japanese retailers are still selling copies to Chinese customers, or grey-market resellers, but anyway these sales are reported by Famitsu.
Probably this was more common during last gen than now.

About other differences reported with GT Sport site. Could it be that the algorithm to get big amount of random worldwide players (PSN accounts) works better with russian names than german?

 

[gamstat]

About other differences reported with GT Sport site. Could it be that the algorithm to get big amount of random worldwide players (PSN accounts) works better with russian names than german?

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Urgh, this part is complicated.
My sample is not random. In fact, it's very skewed towards some regions in its raw state. That's why I collected a much bigger sample (~250 mln player accounts) to learn the real regional distribution. Then I apply regional coefficients to my sample to make it less skewed. For instance, every player from Japan in my sample represents 1.15 players, while every player from Spain only counts as 0.88 players (yep, sorry for unintentional discrimination) - because I have fewer players from Japan and more players from Spain in my sample than I should have. It's not the perfect way, it's just the best I could come up with.

In fact, I know how to make it better, but it comes with a cost. With PS5 and probably new API on the way, I'm not going to change anything here this year.

 

[BassForever]

Nomura-sama making it rain in the Slums.

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Hopefully the roof doesn't come crash down on the slums, that would be awful

 

[El Manco]

Urgh, this part is complicated.
My sample is not random. In fact, it's very skewed towards some regions in its raw state. That's why I collected a much bigger sample (~250 mln player accounts) to learn the real regional distribution. Then I apply regional coefficients to my sample to make it less skewed. For instance, every player from Japan in my sample represents 1.15 players, while every player from Spain only counts as 0.88 players (yep, sorry for unintentional discrimination) - because I have fewer players from Japan and more players from Spain in my sample than I should have. It's not the perfect way, it's just the best I could come up with.

In fact, I know how to make it better, but it comes with a cost. With PS5 and probably new API on the way, I'm not going to change anything here this year.

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Thanks for the info and clarifications! Nice work!

 

[Iron Eddie]

Nice hopefully the other platforms also does great when it releases.

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People often suggest Sony's first party is what leverages them above the others, this is a prime example of why that isn't exactly true and really highlights how Sony started their journey.

 

[HyperDimension]

JRPG holds less meaning as a term nowadays as many games that decended from Dragon Quest have long since borrowed elements from western RPGs and other genres. I've no problem calling FFVII an action/RPG with or without the "J" qualifier.

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I just don't see any Western RPG influence in FF7R. But it's certainly been influenced by hack & slash action games like Devil May Cry.

But sure, calling it "ARPG" makes more sense than "JRPG".

 

[Deleted member 2791]

Sorry, I'm a little late to the party. Not sure whether it's good or bad, but I often come up with data that can't be verified.
Still, there are some ways to check how accurate it is:

1. There was a 'MyPS4Life leak', and actually the whole site is built around it. Here's a comparison of gamstat.com estimates with the MyPS4Life figures (my estimates could've changed a little since then).
2. Once a quarter Sony is reporting the number of PS+ subscribers. I calculate my own number, and if it matches the figure reported by Sony (so far it does) - it means I'm calculating the total number of PSN accounts right - and it's the most important number for calculations.
3. Famitsu's estimates. They usually report a bigger number of sales in Japan than I do, and I'm not sure if it's my underestimation - or their overestimation. (Or offline players, or slow 'sales into players' conversion or whatever).
4. GT Sport website, which includes a full list of all players. My player count estimate is ~10% higher, and as for regions - the comparison says that I might generally underestimate Germany, Japan and Italy, and overestimate France and Russia - https://twitter.com/GamstatC/status/1248034534190452737

So you can't just throw away my estimates ('not accurate at all', 'estimates out of ass'). Especially considering that the usual alternative is having no data at all.
You should treat these data with a grain a salt, of course, but - based on all the information I have - they are pretty accurate and should give you an overall picture.

If you can point me to other real data for a sanity check - I'm all ears.

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And it turns out your estimates were one million below the real number.

 

[MegaSackman]

And it turns out your estimates were one million below the real number.

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I don't know, they're pretty good imo. SE numbers are shippments, and not everyone probably got online to play the game or at all.

This to me indicates that sold through numbers are probably great.

 

[FrostweaveBandage]

And it turns out your estimates were one million below the real number.

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There is a non-zero number of people who have the game and have not played it, and a non-zero number of people who still haven't received their game. But those numbers are probably dwarfed by physical copies that are not sold through. So Gamstat's numbers definitely appear to be accurate.

 

[Jaded Alyx]

And it turns out your estimates were one million below the real number.

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I'm absolutely shocked that this figure was not at all accurate. Smh. I remember questioning the authenticity of figures from this site when they were presented as sales in another thread and people thought I had some kind of agenda, when all I wanted was proper facts and figures for the purpose of sales discussion.

 

[Deleted member 2791]

I don't know, they're pretty good imo. SE numbers are shippments, and not everyone probably got online to play the game or at all.

This to me indicates that sold through numbers are probably great.

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The game was out of stock everywhere. Sell through in Japan was 95%. It's probably on a similar scale worldwide. Unless you think that a million people forgot to turn on their game in the first three days of launch, those estimates are lackluster.

There is a non-zero number of people who have the game and have not played it, and a non-zero number of people who still haven't received their game. But those numbers are probably dwarfed by physical copies that are not sold through. So Gamstat's numbers definitely appear to be accurate.

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See above.

 

[MegaSackman]

The game was out of stock everywhere. Sell through in Japan was 95%. It's probably on a similar scale worldwide. Unless you think that a million people forgot to turn on their game in the first three days of launch, those estimates are lackluster.



See above.

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What I mean is that there might be people playing offline or haven't sync at that time. We know that the sell through is likely not 3.5M but they're sure pretty high. I believe at the very least the game sold 3M, the stats indicate 2.3M players tracked so imagine a number of the remaining players playing offline, of course the tracking is not precise but it shouldn't be 1M off.

 

[FrostweaveBandage]

The game was out of stock everywhere. Sell through in Japan was 95%. It's probably on a similar scale worldwide. Unless you think that a million people forgot to turn on their game in the first three days of launch, those estimates are lackluster.



See above.

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That's even better, but the original complaints of inaccuracy were that 2.3M was far too high because gAmStAt SuX. Now it turns out to be way less.

 

[Deleted member 2791]

That's even better, but the original complaints of inaccuracy were that 2.3M was far too high because gAmStAt SuX. Now it turns out to be way less.

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Well yeah, the estimation is way lower, and definitely not accurate.

 

[Sub Boss]

JRPG holds less meaning as a term nowadays as many games that decended from Dragon Quest have long since borrowed elements from western RPGs and other genres. I've no problem calling FFVII an action/RPG with or without the "J" qualifier.

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Yeah, it goes either way i call Dark Souls a jrpg because it is

 

[Sub Boss]

It was always going to do well from a sales standpoint. It's Final Fantasy VII for crying out loud. While the original is not the best Final Fantasy, it's by far the most iconic.

Despite my dislike for the story being changed with Nomura nonsense, it's still the best Final Fantasy they've released since 10.

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12

 

[gamstat]

And it turns out your estimates were one million below the real number.

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Players ≠ sales. It just means not everyone gets their copy and starts playing on day 1.

 

[Fusionterra]

Gamstat 3,6 M players in 10 days, 500k less than gow.

 

[Gurvyy]

Surprised no one put it here ^^
From SqEx official.

 

[Jarod McChicken]

April 12 : 2,3 million
April 19 : 3,6 million

Climbing fast

 

[AllMight1]

You can tell every second how much love, work and dedication was poured into this game.

 

[Dragoon]

April 12 : 2,3 million
April 19 : 3,6 million

Climbing fast

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They mistook 2.3m when it was 3.5m. 3.6m must mean they are at 4.5-5m already :')

 

[Falus]

Should be easy' I'll at 5-5.5 now

 

[asd202]

Should be easy' I'll at 5-5.5 now

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Geez I hope so the game deserves it. Best SE game since forever IMO well other than DQ but that's kinda different.

 

[Midgarian]

You can tell every second how much love, work and dedication was poured into this game.

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Absolutely. It feels like the developers are reading our minds as we play. It's the best piece of fan service I've ever experienced (and the best game I've ever played). Fan service is usually moments of throwaway, meaningless, winking at the audience shlock, and the term has that negative connotation associated with it. But this game reappropriates "fan service" in not just a positive sense, but in an artistic sense, it's used as a literary device to further accentuate the story, lore and personalities.

On the one hand that feels great. Like I said this is easily the best game I've ever played, the first time in my life I have ever changed it from MGS3.

On the other hand it feels a bit patronising. Why did it take the FFVIIR to pour out all this love and attention and care? Where was all of this for FFXIII and FFXV? To me it feels like they think we'll take whatever crap they throw at us for the new IPs, since those aren't scrutinised to the same extent, but that there would be hell to pay for getting FFVII wrong. I hope they just treat all IPs like they do FFVII going forward.